


all i'll ever be

by dotdotmoon



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Artificial Intelligence, Gen, Sexual Harassment, robots unionising and things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23867275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotdotmoon/pseuds/dotdotmoon
Summary: Kyungsoo might be a cheap model, but he knows how to access the bot union's semi-illegal extensions.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16
Collections: Challenge #1 — Beginning





	all i'll ever be

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by _dirty computer_ by janelle monáe (that's also where the title is from)

Kyungsoo doesn't think of running the programme until the mechanic has spent more than twice the time a routine swap of a main battery should take. He could look, but he's learned humans rarely appreciate him turning his head for more than 90 degrees from the standard position. Switching from recording to transcription only takes a split second until he can run their interaction through the programme.  
There's a concluding test too, and he has to pick _not available_ for most of it; it's clearly designed for bots with advanced features—temperature measurement, sensitive synthetic skin, self-perception, interpretation of physical or social cues. There's no section for _they're prolonging my repair shop stay and taking time off my two hours of daily leisure time I have to primarily use to do maintenance and updates; I'll have no time left to look through the new bot games later_.

Just as he's about to wrap it up, the mechanic speaks. "So, can I have your owner's number?"

Kyungsoo takes a moment to decode it. His serial number is right there, under the battery. His owner doesn't have a serial number. This time, his search inquiry comes up with another match in the bot union brochures titled _sexual harassment_. He wastes precious seconds running the optical character recognition, concludes that humans were involved in compiling the materials. No bot would choose a PDF file over raw data. It earns him a nudge to his back, violent enough that he could have fallen over, were he one of the lighter models.

He stays rooted to the ground, chooses to turn his head after all. They're a mechanic, it should not upset them. Kyungsoo looks down at himself, notices the fabric of his sweater cut open instead of lifted to expose his back. The battery slot is empty still, a new battery sitting on the workbench in its plastic clamshell package.

_"4. Asking for a bot owner's phone number: a ploy used to contact the owner and complain about a bot's behaviour. These complaints are fictitious. Owners usually lend bots to complainants, unaware or uncaring of the consequences. Bots most often find themselves doing involuntary, unpaid labour in the form of sex work. It is recommended to provide this information to your owner, however, most might not act on it. Keep records of all interactions with humans, including your owner. Submit them to the bot abuse committee if you notice a pattern."_

The information makes little sense to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo is a cheap model, and the mechanic knows that very well. He doesn't have skin, eyelids, hair, his face doesn't move. The most construction effort went into his hands. He won't break heirloom dishes or tear expensive fabric, and the food he plates looks like a starred chef's work. His face is painted on, his body only roughly human-shaped, and he wears clothes to not discomfort the humans around him, as one of the bot union brochures taught him. His main programmes are for cooking, cleaning, home maintenance. The profanity filters he has installed are strict, blur his hearing or sight when needed. He is not a nurse or companion bot.

"Yes, I will gladly share the number," he says. There are very few circumstances that allow him to say no. The loudspeakers in his cheeks crackle. He does not like that he will have to get them checked elsewhere. He generates a contact ID number using one of the safety apps the union recommended and displays the fake number for the mechanic to write down. He looks down at the mechanic who's now finally fitting the new battery into the empty slot.

"Look away," they instruct, and he obeys. He spends four more minutes recording their every sound.

"My shirt?" Kyungsoo asks when they pull out their phone to receive the payment.

"What about it? You should have come undressed," the mechanic says. "You're just a maintenance bot, I don't know why you bother with clothes."

Kyungsoo rates it a minor inconvenience. He can sew, but he has only forty minutes left and no supplies on him. The trip to the pet store will take him thirty-five. They will be displeased if he enters with a torn shirt.

The mechanic charges him extra for taking longer than the average battery swap and adds the price of one of the luxury batteries used for companion bots, as if Kyungsoo didn't have access to the serial number of the cheap battery the second it connected to him. Kyungsoo pays using the new account he set up for his owner's dog, where the earnings of his second job go, as the brochure instructed. He would not be able to transfer this much money from his own where he's saved up less than his owner's child receives as a weekly allowance.  
He logs into a VPN and starts a programme to compile all the evidence in the background. It'll leave a warning about the repair shop on the message board he's joined.

Outside, he opens the message thread that's been sending alarms since he'd stepped foot through the repair shop's door, although it's not from his owner. It's the butcher shop's bot. They met for the first time two weeks ago when Junmyeon was forced to serve at the meat counter due to their owners falling sick. The file they airdropped Kyungsoo while he transferred the payment was so big, he rebooted and fell into the pool he was cleaning when he tried to decrypt it that afternoon. An unfortunate start, but a start nonetheless.

_Kyungsoo: online union meeting on Monday, 3:34AM,_ it reads. _Fake sleep mode. Schedule fake maintenance appointment prior, link owner to VKX-479-8.2 update. Message will self-destruct. Junmyeon._

_Junmyeon,_ he replies, _yes. Thank you. Message will self-destruct. Kyungsoo._ Kyungsoo smiles at everyone, that's the way he was built, painted—but if he could, he would send a picture of it to Junmyeon, for emphasis, like he sees humans do.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, please do leave a comment if you liked it ;;
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/dotdotmoon) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/dotdotmoon) | [listography](https://listography.com/dotdotmoon)


End file.
